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New research shows that over the past decade, the volume of Arctic ice has declined, even during the winter.

In the past decade, Arctic sea ice volumes have declined 36% during autumn and 9% during the winter, according to findings to be published in Geophysical Research Letters. This confirms predictions of earlier computer models and demonstrates that rising temperatures will be affecting sea levels due to Arctic ice melt.

These findings were confirmed using a number of methods. Ice levels were measured by satellite, and those measurements were confirmed using submarine studies and ocean-based sensors. This study was a collaborative effort between scientists from NASA and also from several different European agencies. The data from the study also shows that the decrease in ice volume has accelerated in the past five years, as well.

In addition to findings of lower ice volumes in Autumn and Winter, a new paper from researchers at the University of Washington has confirmed that Arctic ice melts during the summer is also accelerating. This continues a steady decline in Arctic ice volumes since 1980, as you can see in the chart below from the University of Washington.

"Other people had argued that 75 to 80 percent ice volume loss was too aggressive," said researcher Axel Schweiger, in a UW press release. "What this new paper shows is that our ice loss estimates may have been too conservative, and that the recent decline is possibly more rapid."

As this trend of melt continues, it may be difficult to stop. Because the ice melts more completely now, more and more of the Arctic is composed of what's called "first-year ice" - which is obviously thinner and more delicate than ice that has had a chance to accumulate over a number of years. A recent paper published in Geophysical Research Letters demonstrates that first year ice allows about 3x more light to penetrate its surface than multi-year ice. This means that it's more likely to melt faster than multi-year ice. As a result, it becomes harder for ice to accumulate over the years, thus accelerating ice melts even further.

These accelerating ice melts have real world consequences - the primary one of which is sea level rise. Earlier this month, the City of Boston recently released a report showing potential flood regions in the city that have expanded as a result of sea level rise over the next few decades due to climate change. The report included maps of affected neighborhoods, including this scary one of the south Boston area, including Logan airport.

"It was sobering to realize how climate change is already putting Boston’s waterfront at risk," said Vivien Li, president of The Boston Harbor Association in a press release. "Hurricane Sandy was a wake-up call. This report helps turn apprehension into tangible actions for businesses and government."

Preparing Boston for sea level rise won't come cheap, either. For example, according to the Boston Globe, one consequence of rising sea levels is that the University of Massachusetts-Boston campus entrance will become prone to flooding. To prevent this, the University will have to build a tidal control mechanism costing between $500,000 to $750,000, plus maintenance costs of $10,000 a year.

That's just one structure, in one city. If climate change continues unabated, the resulting sea level rises will force cities and states all along the coasts to divert parts of their already strained budgets into billions of dollars worth of infrastructure improvements to prevent flooding. And considering that the Federal government seems both unwilling and unable to do anything about sea level rise, spending those billions is pretty much already a foregone conclusion.